Plea issued for new bus shelter in Hawick

Paul Kelly

A Hawick councillor wants to see elderly bus passengers in the town given some shelter from the elements.

As the Borders has been battered by winds, rain and snow over recent days and weeks, commuters, particularly older travellers, need protection from the inclement weather more than at any other time of the year, he says.

Councillor Davie Paterson has been approached by a representative of elderly constituents in his Hawick and Hermitage ward with a request for a shelter to be erected at or near an existing bus stop in Burnflat Lane, on the approach to Paterson Gardens.

Local commuters say they are currently at the mercy of the elements, and Mr Paterson is seeking consensus from fellow town councillors on having a structure built sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, he’s planning to carry out a consultation with residents to find out where they think such a shelter would be best located.

He hopes any work can be funded through Scottish Borders Council’s small schemes budget.

He said: “I had a visitor at my surgery last week asking me what the possibilities were of getting a bus shelter for the people of Burnflat and Paterson Gardens.

“My constituent was telling me that he uses the bus on a regular basis and is sick and fed up that all the auld yins have to stand and get soaked in all sorts of inclement weather conditions.

“I am hoping that my fellow councillors will support this.

“There is a bus stop there at the moment but no bus shelter, and this elderly gentleman says that he and other elderly folk have to wait on the bus in all sorts of weather conditions.

“I have approached officers to see if there would be a possibility of getting a shelter somewhere in that location, at a site to be decided.”

A council spokesperson said: “Councillor Paterson has enquired about a new bus shelter in the Paterson Gardens/Burnflat Lane area of Hawick.

“He has asked if this could be paid for from the small schemes budget, but the exact location of the proposed shelter needs to be determined before this can be decided.”